New encoding CPU? AMD or P4?

[Oldeman]

One clickers;
I am about to replace my trusty AMD 750 because it takes way too long to re-encode video with IC7 or QuEnc or CCE. They are basically all night jobs.

Anyway, I am trying to decide on a AMD3200xp 400FSB or a 2.8Mhz P4 800FSB both with 512Mb memory and WinXP. The AMD is about $50 less than the Intel. I have seen conflicting benchmarks on these. I don't care about games etc. I am mainly interested in video encoding speed with the QuEnc or IC7.

What do you thnk I should do? Would more than 512Mb memory help?

Thanks...

[ux-3]

About the memory: 256 seems enough. Adding 256 more didn't make 5% difference on win2k with cce. Perhaps others tell a different story?

Though not directly to your question: Using an XP2600+ and CCE, it still is an overnight or workday job...

[Joergen]

512MB memory is the "norm", 256MB is history. Most games recommend 512 or more and surely do enjoy more (Battlefield, UT2K4, Far Cry to name some). I personally have 1GB of DDR400 and it seems to be enough for now.

As for the CPU, my AMD64 3200+ does about 3 hours for a 3pass CCE job (in DVD-RB for example) compared to 6+ hours on my XP2100+ CPU. But if you do 9x passes like a madman then no CPU can save you from an all-night job. DVD Shrink with deep analysis takes 30min or less on the better PC and is limited by my 16x liteon dvd-rom ripping speed now instead of CPU.

I have an Intel P3 900MHz (comparable to your 750Mhz AMD) as a "media puter" and I wouldnt want to compress anything on that anymore. It takes ages!

[Xuivo]

For sure, i will go for P4. It's the best processor out there for video or audio encoding/editing.

You can check those benchmark for an idea, altough it's not using dvdshrink

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20031223/cpu-guide-17.html

Cheers!

[OvERaCiD23]

If you can afford to go with an Intel, that would be my choice. I personally didn't have the extra $200 to spend on the CPU/motherboard when putting together my computer, so I went AMD. My 2600+ performs awsome, I have it overclocked to 2.3Ghz and it flies. I do about 2.1-2.3 real-time encoding in CCE 2.66, just to give an example of its performance.

As for the memory, don't go with less than 512MB obviously, and I would recommend 1GB. I had 512MB for a while and just found myself trying to do too much at once (CCE encoding, DV capture, Photoshop, etc); since having 1GB, I've yet to have excessive swapping.

[Jester700]

I agree with the fastest CPU you can afford, whichever brand it is. But memory is not a biggie. The poster said games don't matter, and then one response says how new games need lots of memory!

It really depends on the programs and what you're doing. I do multicam videoediting and multitrack audio in VEGAS, and DVD re-encoding with DVDShrink, IC8, and DVD Rebuilder with CCE Basic, and NONE of them do much swapping with my 256MB of RAM. I don't multitask much, though, I don't play games, and I keep WinXP stripped down according to Black Viper's WinXP processes tweaks.

Of course, memory can't HURT, and I've planned to throw some more in there "just because" for a long time. But I'm just not motivated to be quick about it because I've had no problems.

[Solo]

I would keep future operating systems in mind regarding the memory issue. I couldn't imagine buying a new rig with anything less than 512 MB RAM. And once Windows Longhorn rolls out I'm pretty sure even 512 Mb RAM will be insufficient.

My Athlon 64 3400 + does 2 pass CCE encode in round about 2 hours. 4 pass was aroung 3 hours. Never checked the actual time though. My Pentium 4 800 FSB CPU encoded DivX the quickest and my AMD 64 encoded Xvid movies quicker than the P4.

[theReal]

I'd also say you need at least 512MB of RAM - that's the minimum standard right now (of course you can work with 256MB, but start Premiere Pro and you wish you'd have 1GB...)

However I'd rather buy 512MB good brand-name CAS 2 memory than 1GB of no-name for the same price!

[rfmmars]

The hell with bench marks. I have had AMDs for years and herad all of these stories, so here's the low down. I bought a 2.4GIG P4 with the top of the line Asus motherboard

Next I bought a AMD Barton 1.86 gig again with a top of the line motherboard. Same ram, Same HDs.

The AMD using Virtualdubmod, the 1.86 rendered 1 to 2 frames per second faster than the 2.4 gig P4. I also could overclock the AMD to 3.1 with even better results.

Both machines are used side by side and both are good, you just get more for your money with AMD.

richard
photorecall.net

[TheSeeker]

i agree with the above poster in that with AMD you get so much more for your money. Especially with the new AMD64. If they ever come out with some encoding software that utilizes the 64 bit architecture of the AMD64 then AMD will outstrip Pentium in every way. Also, I really dont like intel so I would suggest AMD all the way. Also I believe that the new AMD64 chip has greatly enhanced memory access and management capabilities thereby making the ddr ram even more effective as a speed booster.

[avih]

i'm extremely satisfied with my recent AMD system (check my sig). very good value for money.

[dimzon]

just a little off-topic:
it's not photoshop but it's "Encoding system of the Dream"!
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/415/gamma.GIF

[Solo]

OK dimzon. What server are we looking at here ? Please show us I link to this system. I'm fascinated :scared:

[theReal]

Now I know what I want for Christmas this year :D

[jeremymacmull]

Definately show u a link

also i wonder what FPS one would get on that with XVID or CCE

LOL

JEREMY

[dimzon]

Originally posted by Solo
OK dimzon. What server are we looking at here ? Please show us I link to this system. I'm fascinated :scared:

http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/eserver/xseries/x450.html

it's one of our development server ;)

[Solo]

"Encoding system of the Dream"!

:scared: Now encode something for us. I have to know :D

[dimzon]

Originally posted by Solo
:scared: Now encode something for us. I have to know :D
Sorry, but I have no permissions to use corporate resources for such puposes :( It's just my dream...

[starwarsandrisk]

pansy..... you should do it anyway!.... lol.... i guess i should say anything... i got fired from my last job for that....

but anyways.... i vote AMD.... just make sure you have some hella coolant!

[guada]

Hello,

my system:

- Asus p4g8x deluxe
- Pentium 4 2.4Ghz
- 512 DDR 266 dual channel mode
- Ati 9700 pro
- Terratec DMX 6 fire
- DVD Rom PIONEER 106
- Burner Plextor 24/10/40
- Pinnacle Studio deluxe 8.12 (maj)

my system work very fine. If i have taken pentium, it is not for the price, but only for the heat.
Today, you can see that: all actually procedure are stopped.
The RACE is finished. But development of peripherirals exist and follow.
I hope one day using a CENTRINO on my computer.
You will see it, perhaps ...

Bye :)

[techz]

how about dual channel memory rather than single channel, that should really make a difference, btw how much would that development server cost?

[techz]

THG Task Assignment Manager - A dual-processor system with two 3-GHz Xeon processors does not automatically have the same kind of power as a 6-GHz computer. The application and the operating system have to support symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) or HyperThreading (HT) for performance to improve. Also, the native management features of the operating system aren't always as effective as you might imagine. However, THG offers a software utility that allows you to switch over to manual operation. As our benchmarks show, you can push your dual-processor system to even higher levels of performance.

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20040528/images/taskassign.zip